gprand Posted June 4, 2003 Report Share Posted June 4, 2003 Hi everybody. I am here becouse my dog has unpredictable behaviours since he became adult (more or less 6 months ago).. Sometimes he's very happy to see me and the other components of the family , while other times he barks and growls to me or my father (once he was attacked too..) We have given all our affect to this dog but he seems always stressed and unhappy.. Since two months we bring him to an agility school and he's very happy while he's there , but then when he's at home the depression starts again.. Obviously we cannot always bring him at school.. Is there something we can do? Thank you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted June 4, 2003 Report Share Posted June 4, 2003 That's not really enough information to go on, but hazarding a guess I'd say that A) the dog needs more training, because he's inconsistent and sounds like he is running the family and he sounds like he needs more of *everything* - training, exercise, activity. These dogs can get moody and irritable when stressed from boredom. If the dog is happy in agility class, up your frequency of attendance, or practice daily on your own. Do some obedience work with him, get him out running and playing more frequently and really work his body and mind. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 A mental exercise many of our dogs love is hide-n-seek with their favorite toy. We take the dog into a room and make the dog stay. Then we take the toy into another room, return to the dog and ask the dog to go find the toy. At first we "hide" their toy in plain site in many different locations in the other room. Once they have mastered the find part of the game, we start increasing the difficulty of the hiding places. We will help them find the toy at first, slowly reducing the help as they improve their searching. Soon the dogs are scenting for their toy. It's a great way to work off energy (physical and mental) and teach "stay". They also learn to listen to you as you're helping them search. Everyone has enough room for this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gprand Posted June 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 Thank you very much , i'll try harder with game and training.. We bring the dog out everyday for a walk , but this is not fun for him , i suppose.. Altough where i live is difficult for me to find a place where i can let my dog free to run and play without bothering other people , i'll try your suggestions.. And that hide-and-find game , too.. Thank you very much , i'll let you know if it worked out.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 A hint about where to find a safe place to let your dog run...baseball fields! Where i live we have lots of elementry school and random fields that are almost always fenced in and only used at specific times, for example, during the school year. I used to take my dog to one to practice off leash recalls. Lots of room to run but safe. Just be nice and bring pick-up bags. Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 Olivia, that's a great idea, but I'm not sure how many baseball fields there are in Italy. Perhaps football (called soccer here in the US) fields would be more prevalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 Originally posted by gprand:Altough where i live is difficult for me to find a place where i can let my dog free to run and play without bothering other people , i'll try your suggestions.. I feel your pain! We live in a very unfriendly city for dogs, and right in the heart of the most urban portion of it. However, we also live on the largest city park, which is flanked on three sides by the ocean. We find things to do in the park every day, and exercise is so important for these dogs. We also go to agility classes and herding on weekends. You can find lots to do with your dog if you get a little creative. The "find it" game has saved us countless times in the winters. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaos Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 when I first adopted my escape artist from the lab, She had no formal training and couldn't be trusted off lead (sight hound, could disappear in a second!) I found tennins courst to be soooo helpful especially for training purposes, she couldn't climb a 10 foot fence, and could have a little freedom. likewise, my BC cross needs lots of running time as well as mental stimulation, so I bring a racket ball racket to a field and WHAM her tennins balls out into the next postal code! if you really want him running and focused bring more than one ball. If I bring a ball she won't pay attention to anything else and won't bother with any one or anything else. Maybe you could up his walk quotient for the day, break up his one big walk into two or three little ones if you can't put in any more time... even a short walk will give his brain something to do and and to anticipate. if you need to work off excess physical energy perhaps you could go for bike rides, (discussed on another post!) then he is on lead and undercontrol, yet still running and seeing things. let us know how it goes! sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattleSteve Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 Thanks for that idea Pipedream. I'll try that one. A mental exercise we use for Shake when we leav him at home alone, is the puzzle ball. Shake is absolutely fascinated with it and it will keep occupied 2-3 hours while we go eat and hit a movie. The puzzle ball a ball within a ball. Each ball has holes just the right size for a treat to fit into. You line up the ball and put several treats inside the inner ball. The dog needs to line up the treat with the two holes to get the treat out. We keep this put up until we need to really keep him occupied then break it out. He has a blast with that thing. He ALWAYS manages to get the treats out but it does take him a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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